This is about a UNICEF video ad about domestic abuse and I found this particularly sad and so very true!! I've seen lots of videos posted in birdsites with birds that curse and which everybody seems to find hilarious but which I find super sad because the only thing that goes through my head when I am watching them is: "Who had this poor bird before that taught it say ugly things in such an angry voice?! And how what the bird treated by this person?!" Because a violent person will be violent with anybody or anything... they don't restrict their anger to just one or two people, pets get the same reaction as people do from them. My Sophie CAG came from a home where the husband was abusive and it was heartbreaking to hear her talk - she would say things like: "Ohhhhh, God help us!" "Ohhhh, God saves us!" in the most pitiful tone... Or things like: "JUST LEAVE! LEAVE! Your are making it worse!" "NO, CHRIS! STOP IT! STOP IT, CHRIS!" She has since forgotten these phrases and never repeats them - but I remember.

well, yes, Chance has a potty mouth about some words, which uh, she didn't learn from me! It IS concerning, though. I don't particularly like being called a bad word when she is having a tantrum and while it may be funny to some, it's just like, okay, bird, are ya done insulting me? And don't try to say she doesn't understand it's an insult. SHE DOES, which is why she says it when she wants to beg for food and is being demanding. She learned it in a previous home, though, and the sad thing about re-homed birds is that they remember. African Greys, with all their intelligence, are no exception. Chance sometimes says things out of the blue that leaves me with a huge question mark above my head... "Where did she LEARN that?"

What's interesting is that she will sometimes mimic a man's voice and say "Jail." I have no idea where she learned this.

Obviously, Chance was either called these names or she heard someone being called these names. But the "jail" and "jailbird" talk makes me think this was said to her and was caged. I often wonder with sadness what Chance endured in her past, but I'm just glad she is with me now and is very loved.